Crimson Claws, Curious Eyes
by Puzzle Dragon
Summary: AU: Yugi Motou, a famous naturalist, has found something rather unbelievable. He and his team have sighted a boy who looks uncannily similar to Yugi - and he's living with a pride of lions! Well, naturally, they've got to learn more... CHAPTER 6 IS UP!
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: I own no part of Yu-Gi-Oh!.

* * *

It was a rather cool day in the African Savannah (at least for the standards of the creatures living there).

A good day for hunting. The coolness of the day would make it easier for the lions to run without tiring. A few lions were on their first hunt, this time.

Oddly enough, not all of the lions that were hunting were actually lions.

No, there was another creature in the pride. This creature had long ago been accepted as a member of the pride, and had earned a name of his own.

The closest a human mouth may get to pronouncing his name is 'Atemu'. This boy knew only the mannerisms and language of the lions of the Savannah, copying them to his best ability.

As the pride was preparing for the hunt, they didn't seem to notice the jeeps nearby. It was a regular occurrence: humans would come to film their hunts. They had long ago learned that if they ignored the metal beasts, there would be no trouble.

A particular person in one of these jeeps, a mister Yugi Motou, lifted his binoculars to his eyes. Beautiful creatures, lions. Beautiful, and so dangerous.

_Wait, what's that...?_ He thought. He quickly turned one of the knobs on the pair of binoculars, focusing on the strange object he had seen. Was that... Hair? It certainly wasn't the hair of any sort of animal that should be hanging around lions. How strange... It seemed to be tricolored. Red, black, and yellow, all very stiff. Strange... If he didn't know better, he'd say that somebody with hair almost exactly like his own was prowling around out there with the lions.

Hah. That would be amusing. His long-lost twin, the lion kid!

"Hey, Jou, am I hallucinating, or do you see that thing as well?" He asked his partner, who was currently filming the lions.

"What, Yug'? All I see out dere iz lions, grass, zebras, grass, gazelles, an', oh, did I mention some grass?" Jou grinned, zooming in on one of the lionesses slinking through the grass.

Hey, wait... "Yug'? Uh, I mighta' seen what'cha were talknin' about..."

There in the grass, behind the lioness...

Was a human boy.

* * *

_This, my dear reader, is where our story begins._

_

* * *

_Sorry for the shortness! Well, see you all soon. R&R, if you will.


	2. The Hunt

Slowly and quietly, Atemu followed his mother. She was one of the best hunters in the pride: he knew this by the plentifulness of food. Not many prides had two kills in a week! But then, he shouldn't be thinking about how good his mother was at a time like this.

He should be thinking about how the _hell_ he was going to help take down a wildebeest. Certainly he had that sharp stone that he had grabbed earlier, but how was he going to use that stone to his best advantage? He was much better at using his claws(1) in combat.

Atemu shook his head violently, making his strange mane of three colors ruffle in the wind. That, in his opinion, was the strangest thing about him: his mane. It was stiff as a zebra's mane, and had unearthly colors. He only saw red on a very few birds, and in the lovely meat that his mother and the rest of the pride brought down. It was an odd color for a mane. His mother and the rest of the pride knew he was different, but didn't seem to think about it that often. He sometimes wondered if they thought about anything but the survival of the pride...

Which, of course, brought him back to the problem in front of him. Or, rather, in front of his mother: how do you bring down a wildebeest with a strange, misshapen, furless cub?

Suddenly, his mother sprinted. Quickly, Atemu shot after her, keeping up with a bit of difficulty. _I need to keep up! I hate being so weak and slow...!_ He couldn't know that among his own kind, he would be thought of as insanely strong and fast, to be able to keep up with a lion.

The other lionesses set the herd of stupid grass-eaters to running. All his mother had to do now was pick a target. And pick a target she did: a larger, fatter wildebeest was lagging behind the herd, just waiting for the picking. Maybe it was pregnant. Maybe it had just had too much prosperity in its lifetime, making it become fat and weak. Maybe it was just old. Atemu didn't care. He watched in awe as his mother soared through the air, and latched onto the grass-eater's flank. Then, he jumped, following her example.

He was lucky (or unlucky) enough to land on the creature's neck, and quickly clung to its mane. He grabbed the stone from where he had stashed it in his mane, and plunged it into the creature's throat. A gurgling gasp emanated from the wildebeest's mouth, and it fell over, being dragged down by the weight of the lioness on its flank and the boy clinging to its neck.

Atemu's mother removed her teeth from the herd animal's flank, and quickly sank her teeth into the bones of its neck, just below the skull. The neck broke, and the creature struggled no more. She purred, rubbing her head against Atemu's. Her cub gave his own little mangled rendition of a purr, and licked her face ruff. It was clear that they were congratulating each other on the good hunt.

Atemu's mother, Moti, turned away, and roared to the rest of the pride, signifying a success. Atemu joined her in the roar, showing that he had helped bring down the prey.

There would be feasting tonight!

* * *

Yugi couldn't believe his eyes. What he had just witnessed was impossible! The little bushel of hair that he had seen had turned out to be a boy. A _human_ boy, who hunted with lions. "J-Jou? Did you see that?"

His friend and teammate nodded, his expression that of utter disbelief. "Oh-hooo yeah, Yug'. I saw dat. An' I really don' believe it." He rubbed his eyes, as if he could make the scene go away by closing his eyes.

Yugi shook his head. "Do you know how much of a breakthrough this kid could be for us? If he learns to speak, he can tell us so much about his pride!" Slowly, a grin came across his face. "Kami-sama, Jou, this could be the end of simple filming for us, and the beginning of... of I don't know what! But whatever it is, it's a helluva lot more important than what we're doing now."

"You can say dat again. I wondah how dat boy got dere in da first place, though..."

They watched as the rest of the pride gathered around the kill, and began to gorge.

"Honda, Anzu, we're moving to the kill! We've got to see what's going on out there!" Yugi told to the other two members of their team over the radio. Honda and Anzu had been covering the hunt from another angle, and thus hadn't seen the boy help take down the wildebeest.

"All right, Yugi, but why? We've done plenty of kill shots before, what makes you think this will be any different?" Came the voice over the radio. It was a female's voice – Anzu, the driver for the other jeep.

"We'll show you when we're done. Over and out."

He began to drive with a practiced hand to a place that he had staked out earlier: it was perfect for watching the kill. Jou began to film, while Yugi watched in awe as the pride continued their gory meal. Jounuchi, meanwhile, was searching for the boy, moving the state-of-the-art camera (which was mounted on top of the jeep) slowly and steadily. And... There! There was the kid.

"Got 'im, Yug'. Jus' keep watchin'?"

"Exactly."

"Got it."

* * *

Atemu purred as the rest of the pride came, helping themselves to the kill. But, of course, he got the first pickings, along with the younger cubs and the hunting lionesses. After all, he had helped hunt! He had actually brought the prey down! He could hardly believe it, but the meat he got was proof enough.

Hmm... What to choose, first? The liver was a good piece, but that should go to pregnant females. It would be greedy to take that much nourishment. The heart, however, was a piece that he was allowed to take. Yes, he'd have that.

Quickly, he used the sharp stone to hack it out of the beast's chest, and took a piece of the tough flank muscles. The boy ate it slowly, savoring the coppery taste of the fresh, warm blood. A stray stream of the lovely liquid dripped down his chin, and he purred.

Moti came sauntering over to his side, and licked his cheek. Playfully, he pounced on her head, nuzzling it affectionately. Her beautiful brown eyes seemed amused, and she purred back at him. She as proud, her actions told him, of her odd little cub. He had given them this kill, after all.

She licked his hand, reproaching him for not cleaning his claws after the kill. Atemu looked at her apologetically, rubbing his face on her neck. I'll remember next time, his motions told her. Her reproachful gaze told him that he had best remember, or there would be trouble.

She then walked to her mate's side, licking his ear in a playful manner. _See what our cub did?_ Her eyes asked him. The regal male's eyes told her that he did, and was pleased. But obvious shows of affection would be seen as weaknesses in a leader, and he knew he shouldn't. Instead, he nuzzled her, and she took it as her responsibility to tell their odd cub that his father cared.

Atemu was very happy at this, his crimson eyes shining with tears of joy as he hugged his mother's snout. Moti purred again, nuzzling his cheek, and then left him to his thoughts.

Oddly enough, he had a feeling of being watched... He turned his head, and noticed one of the odd-smelling beast-but-not-beasts(2). His eyes focused on one of the strange, multicolored creatures that usually went in and out of the things. What exactly were those things, anyway? Were they alive in a different way than a herd beast, or a lion? All of these things had hearts, and blood. Maybe a beast-but-not-beast had a different kind of blood? And what of the two-legged things that went in and out of the things? Were they a part of the beast-but-not-beasts, or were they something like the lions and herd beasts?

He glanced back at the pride, looking for any who were watching him. Nobody seemed to be looking in his direction... Quickly, he slipped into the grasses, moving towards the thing that he didn't know was called a jeep. He was curious. And when he wanted to know something, there was no stopping him.

What he really wanted to know was this: were the beast-but-not-beasts edible? And if they were, how would one kill one of them?

Strange, strange things these not-beasts were.

* * *

(1) He thinks of his fingernails as claws, and they can actually be used that way if he tries hard enough.

(2)Also known as a jeep. XD

R&R, please!


	3. First Encounter

"Yug', he's comin' dis way."

Yugi looked at Jounuchi, who had switched off the camera and jumped off the top of the jeep. The scruffy blonde was now getting in the car, slamming the door shut behind him. "Jou? What are you doing?"

Jou looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "Yug'. You realize dat da kid was raised by _lions_, right?"

He could practically see the gears in Yugi's head turn as he worked out what his teammate could have meant by that. "...Ah. I see your point." He paused. "Should I start the car, or should we wait for him to come and satisfy his curiosity?"

"Oh, so suddenly I'm makin' all da decisions? You, in case ya haven't f'rgotten, are da driver. You handle dis kinda thing, not me. I'm just da cam'ra-man."

"...We'll stay. I doubt that he'll be able to get in if he decides to be violent, anyway: this car is designed to take stress."

"It's not designed ta take a lion with opposable thumbs, Yug'. He can open da door."

"...We are so royally _fucked_."

* * *

Atemu slunk quickly through the tall grass, staying low to the ground in case a member of the pride should glance his way. If his mother caught him going near one of these things... _Don't think about it._ He thought(1).

After a few moments of sneaking, he was next to the car. He cocked his head curiously, looking at the two creatures inside of the not-beast. He reared up on his hind legs(2), and placed his front paws curiously on the front of the object. He yelped in pain, and fell back: that thing was hot! How...?

His eyes narrowed, and he prowled over to one of the not-beast's turning 'legs'. He poked at it, and found it to be hard. He blinked. The thing had a very odd texture to it, unlike anything he had ever felt before. Strange.

Atemu looked up at the nervous face of one of the creatures, and then realized something. The creature had a mane like him!

He jumped onto the top of the jeep, and began to play around with the camera. It turned smoothly as he pushed it with his head, and he purred, his crimson eyes showing amusement. What was this for? Surely it was fun to move around, but it had to get boring after a while, didn't it?

He jumped down next to the jeep again, and then noticed that there was a handle on the side of it. He reached up, and easily pulled it open. He had met some resistance, since the door had been locked, but a simple lock was no match for the brute strength of a boy who lived and played with lions.

Startled violet eyes stared down at him, and curious crimson eyes stared back. "...Hello." The creature said.

Atemu cocked his head. What? What did that sound mean? It made no more sense to him than the calls of the zebra made to the average lion. But somehow, he had the idea that it meant something, and that he should understand it. "H... Herrowr?" His mangled rendition of the word was somewhere halfway between the actual word, and a plaintive meow. Hmm. How did the creature make those sounds?

He cocked his head again, this time in the opposite direction. Very strange creatures, these were...  


* * *

Jou stared at Yugi, and then snickered under his breath. "'Hello?" he whispered to Yugi. "Hello!? Da first word ya can think of ta say to a _lion-kid_ is 'hello'?"

Yugi glared at his teammate. "Perhaps you have something better in mind?"

"Sure. 'Salutations'." Jou grinned, and Yugi rolled his eyes.

The lion boy, meanwhile, was watching this exchange with confusion. What were they saying? What did it mean? Why didn't they communicate in the normal way, through touch and eye contact? Weird.

Jou watched as Yugi slowly reached out a hand to the boy. The kid seemed to be frozen, and he watched Yugi's hand cautiously, as if making sure that it wasn't some sort of dangerous weapon. Then, something seemed to click in his mind – there was a definite spark of recognition in the boy's eyes. Then, he reached out his own hand, placing it beside Yugi's in the air. He looked as if he were comparing them.

His scarlet eyes widened, and he looked at Yugi with wonder. Something between a purr and a growl of what sounded like disbelief emerged from his mouth, and he backed away from the jeep very quickly.

"Wait, wait, little one." Yugi said, using a soothing tone he usually used on his many cats when they were determined to be nasty to him. "It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you." Jou held back his snicker, this time: this would be crucial to getting the kid to trust them. Yugi slowly got out of the car: it was obvious the boy didn't mean any harm, so why bother to be fearful of him? Crouching down on all fours, he held out an inviting hand.

Very slowly, the lion boy crept back to the naturalist. Suspiciously, he scented the air for anything threatening. He seemed to be satisfied by what he had smelt, because after doing so, he reached out his own hand and placed it in Yugi's. Yugi allowed a slow smile to creep up on his face as the boy came closer after placing his hand in the naturalist's. A quiet, tremulous purr sounded.

Yugi decided to take a chance, and reached out his other hand to the boy, running it through the boy's wild, stiff mane of hair, so similar and yet different than his own. The boy flinched, but then slowly leaned into the touch. From this, Yugi deduced that it felt good.

"You like that, hmm?" He asked, chuckling quietly. The boy's purr grew louder, and a slow smile of his own crept up.

Yugi wondered if the boy was just imitating him, or if he, in some lost corner of his mind, remembered smiling when pleased.

* * *

The creature's touch felt good, running through his mane like that...! Hmm. He'd have to remember how to do it, with these odd front paws that they shared.

Atemu had been shocked when seeing that the creatures were like him in some ways, but had soon been calmed down after the surge of irrational fear and uncertainty. After all, no matter what he looked like, he was still a lion.

Sometimes he wondered, though...

Suddenly, an earth-shaking roar rang out, shattering the peace of the moment. His mother sprang out of the grass, knocking him away from the strange creature's paws, and onto the ground behind her. She snarled at the creature, and swiped a paw at him, purposefully missing him. The message was clear: _get away from my cub if you wish to live._

Slowly, the creature backed away, murmuring words in a soothing tone as he did so. Atemu, however, had the feeling that the words "Oh, hello there, miss pissed-off lioness. Please don't kill me for going near your cub. I'm so fucked. Shit. Shit. Fucking _shit_." did not mean anything soothing.

Moti allowed the creature to get into the not-beast and close the door behind itself, before she began to push Atemu back towards the pride. Atemu looked back over his shoulder at the not-beast as it began to make a rubling noise, and moved away. He had a feeling that it would be back, though.

At the moment, however, he had bigger problems.

One very ticked lioness, for example.

She waited until the thing had gone before she cuffed him over the head with her paw, giving him a very irritated snarl to go with it. This cuff was quite hard, and sent him sprawling to the ground. Moti smacked him again when he was on the ground.

Atemu hissed in pain and irritation. He had been in no danger, why had mother had to go and mess things up? He wasn't a cub anymore! He had proved that with today's hunt!

Moti, however, obviously thought otherwise. She led the pouting boy away, still obviously displeased with him.

This was going to be a _long_ day.

* * *

Yugi gripped the steering wheel in a white-knuckled death grip as he proceeded to drive back to the team's base.

Jou's face was dead white as he said, "Yug', you're one lucky _bastard_, y'know dat?"

His teammate nodded. "Yes, Jou. Yes, yes, yes. I know. A lot of people have been killed by mother lionesses for going near their cubs, as I'm sure you know." A high-pitched, nervous laugh escaped Yugi's lips. "I'm glad I'm not one of them."

Jou nodded. It was silent for a few seconds, when the crackling of the radio broke it. "Yugi! Jounuchi! Are you two all right?! Honda just saw a frickin' lioness leap towards the side of your jeep!"

A breath hissed between Yugi's teeth before he answered. When he did, his voice was shaky with the left-over shreds of fear. "Yeah, Anzu. We're both fine, not a scratch on us. Thank Kami-sama."

"What'd you two do!?"

"We'll tell you at the base. It'll be easier with the video we took before it happened, anyway."

"...Why are you being so secretive, Yugi?"

"You'll see at the base. Over and out, Anzu, and you'd best start driving if you're going to get there in time for coffee." With that, he shut off the radio. He knew it'd get Anzu moving. The girl wanted answers, and she wouldn't rest until she'd get some. He'd just ensured that they'd all be at the base when he had to explain, which was great for him, because he hated saying things twice.

He continued to drive in silence.

* * *

(1) He didn't actually think this in words, but rather in concepts. I'm using words instead of describing how he thinks to make it simpler.

(2) I'm calling things what Atemu thinks them to be in the sections that center around him, okay?

R&R, people!


	4. Massacre

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

Yugi smiled. "Coffee. There's nothing better." He said in a satisfied tone. The aroma of the heavenly elixir was wafting around the room enticingly as the monotonous drips sounded again.

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

Jounuchi grinned, shaking his head. "You're just addicted, Yug'. 'S really not dat great."

A scandalized pair of violet eyes met him from across the room. "Well! I suppose you won't want any, then?"

"Nah, I'll make dah sacrifice, an' help down da stuff so dat Honda an' Anzu don't hafta drink any." Jou grinned as Yugi rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, the door flew open, slamming loudly against the wall and rebounding back at whomever had knocked it open. Then, Anzu walked in, a chagrined look on her face as she rubbed her nose. "Remind me not to do that again. Stupid door…" With that said, she turned towards Yugi. "Well? Are you going to explain what happened, or do I have to drag it out?"

Honda poked his head into the doorway. "More importantly, is that coffee I smell?"

Anzu's glare of death was enough to shut him up immediately.

Yugi sighed, and turned to the large, wall-to-wall flat screen television that they used for testing their footage. KaibaCorp issued only the best, after all. They were lucky that the teenager who ran the company happened to be bored when he sponsored them: he didn't seem to be the type to care much about animals, but, as stated previously, he was bored. He'd probably be amused enough if he saw what they had found…

"All right, then…" Yugi murmured.

"Camera A, Video number two hundred and eight. Skip to hour two, minute twenty-seven, second nine point five." He stated clearly to the television.

Well, KaibaCorp only issued the best… Seto Kaiba had supplied them with every bit of their new equipment. No more wrestling with crappy cars when escaping a stampede. No more flawed bits of footage that had to be cut out. No more having to get close for sound: nanobots did that for them, designed to look like a cloud of almost invisible gnats. And none of this 'open-top jeep' nonsense for cooling. No, they had an AC in the car, and it was closed up completely for maximum security. Yes, KaibaCorp did indeed only issue the best.

The video came up on the screen, and then smoothly skipped to the specific frame that he had specified: the exact moment where Jounuchi had spotted the lioness, and the kid behind her. The child wasn't visible from the distance that they had been watching from, but Jou had conveniently zoomed in at that point in time. And… There. "Pause."

Anzu and Honda stared for a moment, shock showing clearly on their faces. Yugi smiled, and said, "Resume."

They watched the remainder of the hunt in silence. Finally, they came to the part where the boy began to come to the jeep. "End transmission." Yugi turned to Honda and Anzu. "Well?"

Anzu fixed him in a level gaze. "If this is a trick, Yugi…"

"Notice that the kid has red eyes. Notice that if he stood like a human, he'd be taller than me. Notice that he has more blonde streaks in his hair than I do." Yugi stated flatly. "Also, there is the fact that none of the lions have driven him away. I'm not the one in that video. And you heard the voice command: that footage was taken by the camera on our jeep. And if you say that we hacked it, Anzu, I'll get Jou to break your kneecaps."

"Leave me outta this!"

"Fine. I'll just steal her driver's license." Yugi grinned.

Anzu rolled her eyes. "I know you're not good with computers, anyway, Yugi. I'm not that stupid. And even if you were, how the hell are you going to hack a camera? We don't even have a _laptop_ here, much less the equipment you'd need to hack a KaibaCorp product."

Honda, meanwhile, had been pouring out cups of coffee for the rest of the team. "So, now that we know that there's a kid out there, what're we gonna do about it? It's not as if we can just go grab him, or anything."

Yugi shrugged. "We do what we do best. We watch." He paused for a moment. "…And we figure out some way to teach him how to speak with us. I am _not_ leaving Africa until we learn some things from this kid."

"An' jus' how do ya think dat we're gonna get close enough to teach 'im? In case ya didn't notice, ya nearly got _killed_, Yug'."

"We'll think of something. We have to."

* * *

It was nearing the end of the dawn hours, marking the end of the hunting time, and the cubs were being allowed to play for a while. Atemu, meanwhile, was growling in exasperation.

Really, his mother was being a bit unreasonable. The things in the not-beast weren't going to hurt him! They were only watching him, and he was only touching them. It wasn't as if touching them would kill him. And now, Moti had punished him for it! It wasn't _fair_. He didn't want to have to watch the younger cubs. They were annoying.

As if she had heard the boy's thoughts, a little female cub pounced on him. She was obviously asking him to play. "Raaaaoornn…." He moaned. _Why me? Why me!?_ He obliged the cub reluctantly, wrestling her to the ground immediately. It was no fun to play with the little ones! They always lost. It was no challenge to beat one of them, and all of the lions that were his age were adults! He had been a cub for much longer than cubs were supposed to be. It was strange, but he supposed it was more fun for him.

He growled again, and looked out across the gently waving grass moodily. He wanted to be out _there_, where the herdbeasts ran. He wanted to feel the wind in his mane, the sweet-smelling grass breaking under his paws, and he wanted to feel free.

He settled for tearing the dirt under his front paws to shreds.

Suddenly, he stopped, cocking his head. What was that sound? It sounded like… Oh. No. "Mraaaaor!" He called to the rest of the pride, making them all group around him and the cubs. Growling rang out from the throats of all who were there.

Rapid yips called from the grasses. They almost sounded like the sounds that the creatures in the not-beasts made sometimes…

A large pack of hyenas rushed out of the foliage, howling and yelping loudly.

The lions and hyenas jumped into combat.

Blood claws roar yip.

Blood.

Blood.

Blood.

Atemu was whirling in combat as well: one of the hyenas had snuck past the defense of lions, and was trying to eat the cubs. Atemu leaped on the hyena's back, sinking his claws into it. He made sure that he was far away from the reach of the creature's crushing jaws: one bite from that thing, and he would be dead.

Well, he wouldn't be dead immediately… Instead, he'd have a broken limb. And he'd fall. This would bring his head within biting range. Which would mean gruesome death by hyena bite.

He made sure to be out of biting range.

Ripping tearing snarling biting clawing roaring yelping growling snapping _killing_.

Atemu shakily stood on all fours again. The hyena was dead: he had taken a risk, and bashed at its spine with the rock he had hidden in his mane, breaking its neck. Luck was on his side, it seemed, because the rest of the pack of hyenas was fleeing into the grass again.

There were bodies everywhere, both feline and canine. The mangled remains of two cubs were strewn gorily on the ground, their bones splintered by the crushing bites of the hyena that had gotten past the pride.

Mewls of grief emanated from the entire pride as they saw the poignant remains of two of their children. Everybody moved away from the bloodstained battlefield in silence.

The hazards of the savannah had claimed two more.

* * *

The team set out again at nightfall, hoping to find a way to approach the boy again in the peace of the night. Night is one of the times that lions are most active – they usually sleep away the sweltering hot hours of the afternoon, and wake at night to socialize, play, and generally live life to its fullest.

Yugi drove towards the usual 'playground' for the cubs, expecting to see the joyful youngsters wrestling playfully with each other.

Instead, he saw the results of a massacre.

"…Shit."

"Yeah, no kiddin'."

A crackle came over the radio. "What was that, Yugi?"

"Anzu, we've got problems. The pride was attacked, it looks like. Hyenas. I count around fifteen hyenas, and three adult lions. The hyenas probably ran, there are too few hyena bodies for the pride to have killed 'em all." Yugi shook his head with a sigh. "Damn hyenas…"

"…Well, fuck." That was Honda. "Where do you think they went? The pride, I mean."

"…The water hole? That's usually their first stop when they're on the move."

"We'll try that, then." Anzu was speaking this time. "See you there. Over and out."

Yugi set the radio down, and put his hands back on the wheel. Damned hyenas…

* * *

Indeed. damn hyenas and their needing to eat. Honestly, as a naturalist specializing with lions, Yugi should be used to seeing this sort of thing. He's just wound up 'cause Atemu could have died. :P

Well, I'll see you all later.


	5. Grief

**AN:** Oh. My. GOD.

I. I. Just. Uh. Is there any way to get you guys to forgive me? Seriously?

I'm sorry I haven't updated in so very long. It's been, what... A year? -nervous laughter-

...Yeah. To paraphrase the words of Yugi: Oh, hello there, pissed-off readers. Please don't kill me for not updating for so long.

...I'm so screwed. -flees like a coward-

**Disclaimer:** I own no part of Yu-Gi-Oh!. If I did, I'd have been killed for leaving the series unfinished for so long...

And without further ado, here's the next update of Crimson Claws, Curious Eyes!

* * *

The pride moved in silence.

A heavy miasma of grief hovered over the lions, smothering them in bleak misery. Even the cubs were quiet – a stark contrast to the carefree play that had been going on just a few hours before. The littlest cubs crowded around Atemu, seeking comfort and protection from their hyena-killing brother. Surely he would protect them? Keep them safe from the horrible beasts that had to be lurking just outside of sight?

Normally, Atemu would be mildly irritated by the swarm of tawny little furballs around his paws. He had to watch very carefully to make certain that he didn't crush one of them by accident, and this made it quite difficult to walk. But under the circumstances...

He gently nuzzled a particularly distraught youngster, telling her without words that it would be alright, that they were safe now. It didn't seem to help. She still stuck to his side as stubbornly as a baby elephant stuck to its herd. Well... That was alright, he supposed. As long as she stuck with him, and he stuck with the pride, she'd be safe. Right?

The watering hole was their first stop. They had to drink deeply tonight, because they were going across their territory to a new hunting area. The hyena pack was too large for them to risk staying where they had been. Even though they had killed many of them, there were still at least twice as many left.

Atemu thanked the stars that the hyenas had left. There could be many reasons for it: cowardice, fear, or even the simple consideration that more of their number were being killed than the lions. The creatures were unfathomably strange. Who knew what they, those dogs-who-were-not, thought about? And more importantly, who even _wanted_ to know?

Not him, that was for certain.

His mother nudged his shoulder gently with her nose, catching his attention. Oh. They were at the watering hole. He spared a brief moment to wonder why his mother felt so hesitant, almost fragile, before turning his thoughts to the more immediate matter of what was expected of him. Complex thought later. Survival now.

Atemu quietly crept up to the shore and lowered his head to the surface of the water, keeping a watchful eye out for crocodiles. You never could tell when one of them would ambush you while you were trying to get a drink... And it was never, never pretty when it happened. He'd once seen it happen to an older female.

It had taken him a long, long time to get the courage to go back to the water.

Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any crocodiles. Still, no reason to let his guard down. The hyena attack had made him extremely jumpy, and that wasn't going away anytime soon.

...The hyena attack. Wait.

...Where was father?

* * *

As Yugi was driving, a sudden realization hit him out of the blue.

His eyes widened. "...Oh _shit._" He stepped on the gas.

Jounuchi raised an eyebrow at him. "Do I ev'n wanna know, Yug'?"

"The male lion was dead."

"...Yeah? I kinda noticed. Dere were a few lionesses too, jus' in case ya didn' notice."

"The _dominant_ male, Jou."

"Still don' see where yer goi- oh, fuckin' _hell._" A look of dawning horror. "Ya don' think-?"

Yugi's eyes were glued to the rough terrain in front of him. When he spoke, his voice was strained and tense. "It's a possibility." His mind was whirring over the new questions this raised, and the most important question that he had was this: was the kid still considered a cub by the females?

The reason this was so important was because of a little fact about pride leadership. You see, when a male lion that leads a pride is killed or overthrown by another male, a new male will take over the pride. The first thing this new male does is send all of the females into heat. The reason for this is suspected to be that the male lion wants to distribute his genes as widely as possible.

And how does this lion do this?

**He kills all of the pride's cubs.**

Yugi shivered. _I just really, _really_ hope that he's not considered a cub anymore. Or – and – that a new male hasn't come along yet. That'd be the best possible situation, I think._ If he wasn't a cub anymore, it would only be a matter of time before he was driven out of the pride. As another male, he'd be considered a threat to whatever lion had decided to become the pride leader. Worst possible situation: another male had already moved in for the kill, the boy was a cub, and he was already laying out there somewhere on the savannah, entrails being feasted upon by the hyenas.

He forced that gory mental image away. _Really need to spend a little less time around dead animals. That was disturbingly easy to picture._ And he could already tell that that particular image was going to play a large part in many of his future nightmares.

He bit his lip, and kept driving.

* * *

Anzu and Hiroto were the first ones there, actually.

The blue-eyed driver quietly pulled up in a nicely sheltered section of bush. There was just enough visibility for good filming, and just enough cover to keep them from getting spotted. Anzu smiled slightly. This was one of her favorite places for filming, actually – safe, secure, and, if she really needed it, there were a couple of good escape routes to use in a pinch. Quick ones, too. She turned on the radio. "This is Anzu. Do you copy?"

A burst of static, and then a voice. "Hear you loud and clear, Anzu." Why did Yugi sound so wound up?

"Good. Honestly, I can't fathom why KaibaCorp didn't provide us with something a little more high-tech than radios..." Really, the CEO was filthy rich enough to afford it. The cameras and cars said as much. _Maybe he's just screwing with us._ "Anyway, wanted to report our position. We're at site WH-5(1). The pride's in sight, can't quite see the kid yet, but I'm sure he's okay."

Crackle. "WH-5, hmm? Okay." Fizz, pop. "We're pulling into WH-2 right now, and – ah! I spotted him. Boy's alright, it looks like. Doesn't seem to be favoring anything like a broken bone, at least." crackle, crackle. "But we've only just spotted him, so it might be a good idea to hang around a bit. Might as well try and catch some good footage while we're here, eh?"

"Sounds good to me. I'll kick Hiroto off his ass and onto that camera. Fell asleep in the car, the idiot," she said fondly, a slight smile on her face.

Static-peppered laughter, both Jonouchi's and Yugi's. "He really needs to work on that," Yugi said, warm amusement coloring his voice. "This is, what, the fifth time he's decided to take a nap in the middle of a night film run?" A chuckle. "Well. Best wake him up. I'll prod Jou with a stick, see if I can't chase him onto the roof."

"I resent dat r'mark!"

Anzu giggled. "Whatever you say, Jonouchi! We'll touch base with each other in two hours, alright, you two? Over and out."

"Fine with me. Over and out!"

Anzu smiled, shook her head, and then began the ordeal of waking Hiroto. Hmm. Perhaps introducing him to the idea of the caffine pill would be a good idea...

* * *

Jou had just started up the camera when the lioness spotted him.

He knew she saw him because she was looking straight into his eyes. He was pretty sure that that was the same lioness that had warned Yugi off, earlier. And hoo-boy, did she look pissed! "...Yug'?" He croaked. "What's wrong?" Oooh. Crap. The boy was looking up, too. And he wasn't as friendly-looking as he had been before.

And _he_ knew how to open car doors.

...Crap.

"Open da door, I'm gettin' in!"

It was a credit to Yugi's trust in him that he opened the door immediately, no questions asked.

Or maybe it was just the utter terror in Jou's voice that had done it.

Who cared? The door was open, and he was in! He was safe!

...Relatively. Lion with opposable thumbs, anyone?

"Yug'? I'm only gonna say dis once: _drive._" And if Yugi couldn't figure out why, he was either deaf, blind, or both. Because the lions were roaring at them. Rather loudly, in fact. And they were also charging at the jeep. The lion-boy was leading the charge, as a matter of fact. Apparently, they'd just become an item on the menu!

Yugi's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed. "Hold on," he said calmly, and that was all the warning that Jounuchi got before Yugi floored it.

And oh hell, when Yugi floored it, Yugi _floored it._

_

* * *

_

(1) Watering Hole 5. Aren't I creative?

So, you're probably wondering why the pride attacked Yugi and Jou. Basically, it's because they're all wound up with stress, fear, sorrow, and grief, and they need a way to expend that. And then Moti sees this nice, shiny target on the roof of the car, who we all know and love as Katsuya Jonouchi! On top of all this, she also sees the two-legged thing that threatened her cub earlier. So, she alerts the rest of the pride with her wariness and anger, and the whole situation just blows up. Jou's just lucky he had the presence of mind to get in the car, because otherwise he'd be a nice decoration on the savannah right now. I call it 'lion finger painting'.

...Yeah. Please don't toss me into a pit with my own lions. I'm sorry... ;-;


	6. Escape

AN: Jesus Christ it's a lion GET IN THE CAR!

-shot-

Hmm. -frowns at this chapter- It's not quite as good as I would have liked it. Feels a bit awkward to me.

Oh well... I guess I'm just not that good at action. -shrug-

**Disclaimer:** I own no part of Yu-Gi-Oh!. If I did, there'd probably be a lot of random shots of a lizardlike creature lurking in the dark corners of Yami's labyrinth of a soul room...

* * *

Anzu had been slightly alarmed when the lions began roaring.

"Might be a good idea to get back in the car, Hiro-"

And then the lions began chasing something. Thankfully, they weren't charging the Jeep, so it wasn't really too much of a worry. They'd probably just seen some poor, soon-to-be-dead prey animal, and decided to take out their frustrations on it. She believed that the smarter animals grieved and mourned just as much as any other human being. They'd filmed too much not to make her think that way. And when emotions ran on high, well...

...Wait.

That. Wasn't. A damn. Zebra.

"Shit!"

A crackle came from the radio, and then a burst of terrified Jonouchi-speak poured from the device. When Jou got panicked, his accent got a lot, lot thicker. Right now, it was at the point that almost nobody would be able to understand him. This, of course, included Anzu. _Thank god that stupid CEO didn't just be lazy on these radios and make them so that we have to talk in turns. Don't know what I'd do if he had._ Not that that made their oh-so-benevolent sponsor any less of a pain in the ass...

"**_JONOUCHI._**"

Silence. _Guess I got his attention. Good._

"Mind telling me what the hell's going on out there?"

"Frickin' _lions_ is what's goin' on out 'ere!"

"Great. We've determined you're not blind." She said flatly. "What. Happened. Why're they going nuts?" Oh, good, Hiroto was getting into the car. Not a good idea to remain on the roof with rampaging felines in their midst. They might be focusing on the other Jeep right now, but there was absolutely no guarantee that they wouldn't turn on a new, more defenseless target if they saw one.

"I dunno!" Jonouchi sounded as if he was wondering he exact same thing. "I didn' do anythin' dat'd piss 'em off, I know better'n dat! Dey jus' attacked!"

This wasn't good. Why would they attack creatures that they didn't know were potential prey? It didn't make sense! They had been careful to keep the pride from thinking of them as prey animals. Standard procedure, integral to surviving in a life like this. So why were they attacking? The pride should have thought of them like they thought of the trees and the grass: immovable, inedible, and unimportant. How, exactly, did they figure it out?

Blue eyes were riveted to the Jeep speeding away from the watering hole. All they could do now was hope...

Well... And rely on Yugi's insane driving, of course.

* * *

"Holy _shit!_ Yug'! _Gimme _some_ frickin' warning_ next time!"

"Shut up and let me _drive_, Jonouchi." Yugi's voice was strained and tense as he spoke, his blunt, abrupt sentences revealing his nervousness. His narrowed eyes and tight grip on the steering wheel also showed that he was supremely unnerved by the pride of lions on their tail, hunting them like a straggling wildebeest.

Which still didn't change the fact that he'd made the car leap a dry riverbed. A rather _deep_ dry riverbed.

"Gimme a heart attack, why don'cha!"

Yugi ignored him in favor of dodging around a large termite mound, speeding towards the moonlit horizon. This quick movement tilted them onto two wheels, causing Jou to let out a high-pitched yelp and clutch his seat belt like it was his only lifeline. After that, he decided not to criticize. After all, no matter how dangerous his stunts were, Yugi _was_ getting them away from those cats... Besides, Yugi was pretty high-strung right now, and Jonouchi didn't want to end up in a totaled car after a trick gone wrong.

Dodging around the termite mound actually did have a purpose, it seemed. The pride hadn't been expecting it, and shot past the mound instead of turning to intercept them, slowing the pursuit enough to give them a good head start.

It seemed that Yugi was feeling quite tame today, though – after that, he simply speed across the grasslands at speeds of over sixty miles per hour. Seeing as lionesses could only reach a maximum of fifty miles an hour in short bursts, they quickly left their pursuers in the dust. The spiky-haired driver continued to speed away for a few more minutes before slowing down. Best to make sure that they wouldn't be caught up to.

Yugi released his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel, abruptly relaxing himself against the back of his seat with a small _thump_. A long, slow hiss of a sigh escaped his lips.

Slowly, Jonouchi relaxed beside him. After a moment, he spoke. "Dat," he said flatly, "scared da shit outta me."

Snort. "You and me both, Jou. You and me both."

A pause.

"...You know, we should probably try and figure out where they're going to den down."

"Yer kiddin' me. Ya gotta be kiddin' me." Jonouchi sat up, turning incredulous brown eyes to Yugi's resigned purple. "We are _not_ goin' back out dere, Yug'. Not tonight. No frickin' _way_ am I goin' back out onta dat godf'rsaken grassland. No. Way."

Tired laughter. "You know what? You're right. I need a shower, and I need some sleep. It's been a long, long day. How the hell'd so much happen in just one day?" He shook his head. "I'll call Anzu and Honda, tell 'em we're fine. Then we'll head back to the base. Sound good?"

"Hell yeah. Tell 'em dat I say 'hi', I'm gonna take a nap. If I can, aftah dat ride!" Jonouchi snickered. "Where da hell'd you learnta drive like ya do, anyway, Yug'? I seen drag racers who're more careful!"

Yugi grinned. "My grandpa was an adventurous man. He learned how to do all kinds of things before he settled down to run the game shop..."

Jonouchi stared for a few moments, then shook his head. "I don' wanna know, do I?"

The grin grew more mischievous. "Probably not!"

The blond snorted, then leaned back into his seat. "Wake me when we get dere." He then promptly fell asleep.

Yugi smiled, shook his head, then turned on the radio. He had a brief conversation with Anzu, telling her and Honda that they were fine, then checked his GPS.

He then began the long, long journey home...

* * *

They had lost their prey.

Atemu snarled in frustration, clawing the grass beneath his front paws to shreds. The not-beast had gotten away! Stupid thing. Why had it been there? Why was it watching them when they grieved? It had no _right_ to be there!

Well, at least it was gone now. Good. They shouldn't be there. Only the pride members should be there.

He shook his mane wildly, dislodging some dust, and then strode over to his mother. Hmm. His mother. Was she truly his mother? He... Didn't look like a lion, really. He looked more like the creatures from the not-beasts. Fleshy, nearly furless, and weak. But he was stronger than the not-beast creatures, wasn't he? None of _them_ had ever slain a hyaena. No. Even if he was not lion in body, he was lion in spirit, and lion he would be. He gave his mother a comforting lick on the cheek, mewling quietly as he did so. She rumbled quietly, not quite a growl or a purr, and nudged him with her muzzle.

A gentle reminder: _We have to get moving again._

Very well. He would help lead the pride to a new hunting ground. Moti and Father had taught him the extent of their territory. He could map it out in his mind as clearly as any other lead lion could with their territory. He would take charge of the pride for now, until some other male came. It was not proper for a cub to lead the pride. He could manage for now, but one more experienced would have to take charge someday.

But that day was not today.

Atemu turned his face into the wind, catching the scents of the savannah.

_This way,_ he decided, and strode off.

The pride followed.

* * *

Hmm. Not my best chapter. Oh well...

R&R, please!


End file.
